Michael Levy on Real Estate Finance

E-commerce Impact

The rise of e-commerce has significantly impacted the demand for logistics and warehousing space. Michael Levy notes that despite Amazon's decision to sublease millions of square feet, the overall leasing velocity in the industrial sector remains robust 1. He attributes this sustained demand to three main factors: e-commerce growth, onshoring trends, and a shift from just-in-time to just-in-case inventory systems 2.

There are three forces driving demand for industrial real estate. We talked about e-commerce. The second is this onshoring trend. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are coming back to the United States.

--- Michael Levy

These dynamics suggest a resilient industrial real estate market, even amidst economic uncertainties.

   

Sustainable Practices

Sustainability is becoming a crucial aspect of industrial real estate development. Michael Levy emphasizes the importance of understanding and communicating the carbon footprint of real estate investments to meet investor demands 3. Crow Holdings, for example, is pioneering the use of mass timber in construction, which offers a better carbon footprint compared to traditional steel structures.

We are building in Frisco, Texas, which is in the Dallas market, a mass timber building. What that means is instead of using office building, instead of using steel, there's now technology that allows you to build very tall buildings out of compressed and laminated wood.

--- Michael Levy

This approach not only aligns with sustainability goals but also showcases innovative building technologies that could redefine future construction practices.